Lash Factor
by Dr. Bross
Summary: While scouting for the enemies new Black Cannon, a soldier gets caught before he can escape and winds up in Lash's laboratory. What does she do in her experiments anyway? James Heckler knows. He knows all too well...
1. Chapter 1: The Black Cannon

-Advance Wars 2  
  
--Lash Factor  
  
---Chapter 1: The Black Cannon  
  
You know, as I was putting on the combat suit of a Black Hole soldier, I found out one thing. These guys really smell bad. I mean they stink, really, really stink. For a couple seconds I thought I was going to suffocate when I put the big helmet on and put the little mask on so no one could see my face. Course I've never had to steal a Blue Moon outfit and squeeze into that either. They might stink just as much as Black Hole soldiers do. It was just a thought.  
  
The name is James Heckler, I'm part of Orange Star's most skilled unit in infiltration and espionage. My job is the vehicle expert. I can drive anything really. Anything that moves. Course we wouldn't be this good if we didn't have a good commander, like Sami to back us up. She had taught us everything when it came to securing areas and taking out enemy personnel. Not that we could take on the world or anything like that. But we were pretty damn good when stacked up to anyone else's troop divisions.  
  
You could find me as the only guy with blond hair in our unit. And with sparkling green eyes, the other guys always joked that I should be on the cover of a magazine instead of in a soldier's uniform. What did they know? These Black Hole guys had crossed the line. They were going back where they came from. One way or another. That reminded me, this helmet really let my spiky hair remain spiky, unlike Orange Star's helmets which flattened it. A lot of head room was what I'm saying. That was kind of nice...  
  
Once I had successfully commandeered a Black Hole uniform, the mission plan had me meeting up with the rest of my unit at the Black Cannon. We were ordered to take out the Black Cannon before Commander Andy arrived. He was the oddity of the Orange Star military. The guy could fix anything, but never really had the mentality for war. Yeah, ok, we all really didn't like the guy. But with all the new COs Black Hole had, I supposed we could use all the help we could get.  
  
Upon seeing the huge combat suits Black Hole guys had to wear I was thinking no way could this be practical in war. It looked so awkward and clumsy. But now that I was wearing it as a disguise, I could see how useful it was. It had this target identifier so you could see enemies before they saw you. The suit was also mechanical making it so you could do all the usual maneuvers without using so much energy. These guys were unbelievable.  
  
I could see the massive Black Cannon before I even got close to it. You could only imagine what kind of damage it could do when it started firing off rounds at oncoming enemies. Kind of a shame we weren't stealing it, but we were ordered to take it out, and that's what we were going to do. There wasn't a whole bunch of other Black Hole soldiers running around. This made it a bit more easier to get to the rendezvous point. No one asked any questions.  
  
Finally I made it to the Black Cannon facility. It was bigger than intel described it. This thing was downright gargantuan. The barrel of the cannon itself was pointed up towards the sky as if ready to launch a volley or something. Alarms were going off in the distance as I looked to a nearby sign. It meant a field test. Maybe that's why I found a lone Black Hole soldier so far out. He was marking the target. Something they could compare damage to when they leveled it with a test fire.  
  
Sneaking around to the back, I could see four other Black Hole soldiers standing around and talking via the radios inside the helmets. That way, the enemy didn't overhear anything you were shouting to your comrades. I tell you, someone put some serious R&D into this suit. The front of the cannon was like a loading depot or something. Plenty of huge crates lie around marked as Black Cannon Ammo.  
  
Slowly I approached the four. There was no real easy way to tell if they were my other team members until I could see hear what they were saying. Finally one of them turned toward me and gave a hand signal we all knew well.  
  
"Well, well, well. Pretty boy Heckler decided to show." I could hear Ruby call out.  
  
"It was a long walk. The guy I jumped didn't have a truck." I told them honestly.  
  
Ruby was team leader and was originally from Yellow Comet. She all ready had some serious training from her old CO Kanbei, and was a welcome addition to our unit. We called her Ruby because of her scarlet hair and her real name was Lon Mai and had been a part of Orange Star after the last fight against Sturm. From the looks of her suit, she had managed to get herself a guy who was part of a mechanized unit. A rocket launcher was seen on her backpack.  
  
"Yeah yeah. Save it for the debriefing. Are our orders clear?" She asked.  
  
"I think Palmer needs a refresher, cause he never does anything." Rick pointed out.  
  
"Shut up." Palmer muttered.  
  
Walter Rick was my best friend on this unit and knew his guns. A weapons expert of sorts. He was pretty cocky and looked the part to. Messy brown hair and blue eyes to go with it. We knew him best because he always had this revolver as his backup weapon. Sometimes we wondered if it was because Blue Moon CO Grit had one, he would never tell us. But one thing was sure, he had an itchy trigger finger. Shoot first, and shoot more.  
  
Now Cedric Palmer was as big as Olaf and as bald as an bowling ball. He was our communications expert and gadget guy. He spent his nights playing around with a computer trying to hack into Blue Moon Bureau of Investigations, sending them little messages how their security sucked and was asking for a virus attack. I think a visit from Commander Sami made him stop, but there was no telling when he would try again. As a hobby, he messed with chemicals.  
  
"All right. Heckler and Rick are to head to the top level. Spy on the firing sequences and get a good idea how long it takes to fire the cannon incase this mission is aborted or otherwise. And Rick,"  
  
"Yes boss?" Rick asked expectantly.  
  
"No gunplay. This base is up to the armpits with soldiers who would love to stick your body full of bullets. All they need is an opportunity and a reason."  
  
"Right it's done. Understood." He grumbled.  
  
"Palmer, Victor. You're both with me. We've got to locate primary generators and set explosives."  
  
Ah hell. I forgot William Victor again. This guy was so silent you swore he was mute. But he wasn't. He had this face that always made him look tired but focused at the same time. Maybe that was good, because he was our explosives expert. Victor was pretty unusual. Although he was only 35, he had this shimmering gray hair and pale blue eyes. I heard a rumor that some Black Hole chemical weapons made it into his system and messed him pretty good. Maybe that's why he never talked.  
  
"All right people. We have a weapon to destroy, lets move out. We have five hours until Commander Andy shows up with the main forces." Ruby finished.  
  
Silently we all entered the building heading our different ways. The large corridors with the eerie red lighting made it quite clear this was a Black Hole facility. Rick was leading the way since he was the guy I voted to memorize the layout of the Black Cannon so we wouldn't get lost and get people asking us what we thought we were doing.  
  
"Hail fellow mindless Black Hole drones." Rick joked waving to some passing soldiers.  
  
I thought I should have smacked him. But he didn't have the radio set to their channel. I could only shake my head. One day, we were going to get caught. I don't know if he thought he was that invincible, or thought Black Hole was that stupid.  
  
"God Rick, why don't you just take off your helmet so everyone can see we're Orange Star?"  
  
"Come on Heckler. They would be too shocked looking at your pretty boy face to pull an alarm." He teased me.  
  
Finally we came across some stairs and made out way upwards in a spiral pattern to the Black Cannon control room. Holy frick, there must have been fifty monitors showing fifty different external cameras. The largest monitor showed where the cannon was presently facing while some generic crosshairs with wind readings and other crap showed what would disappear when it was fired off.   
  
There was some soldiers all ready up there, but we just kept walking and soon blended into the massive computer equipment just waiting for someone to operate this thing. When someone did show up, oh man, they were Black Hole VIPs. Black Hole COs Flak and Lash talking amongst each other. They scared me really. She was a genius with the mind of a ten year old, while Flak was an earthquake in a can.  
  
"Flak! Flakakakaaflaakakaflakakak!" Lash was yelling out. "The Black Cannon is all set to fire!"  
  
"Thanks Lash." Flak laughed looking at the monitors.  
  
He then paused and began to look over all the keyboards and computer screens. It didn't take a genius to see that he was getting confused over all the buttons and readouts.  
  
"So uh... How do you fire this thing off again?"  
  
Lash let out a groan and pushed him to the side while taking a seat at the controls. Flak moved back to where Lash had pushed him from and looked over her shoulder. Since the guy was as big as a house, Rick couldn't see a thing. So it was up to me to see how it worked.  
  
"First you rotate the cannon tower to acquire a target..." Her voice trailed off as she turned around to see Flak's dumb look. "You spin the tower to find something to smash."  
  
Her simplified version caused Flak to nod his head and she continued.  
  
"You lock on..." The crosshairs were lining up on a nearby building. "Then you press the enter key."  
  
Nothing happened. I was kind of disappointed. But then again, they should really be saving all that ammunition for something important to blow up. Soon Lash got up and Flak took her seat trying to repeat her motions. It was like a giant game of Simon says for him.  
  
"Forget it!" He was stuck. "This is too complicated! Just give me a division of tanks any day!"  
  
Lash shook her head and tugged him out of the seat. Then turned toward me. Oh hell... She pointed to me and I just kind of stood there. Maybe I could act like I didn't know what she was motioning to. Then Flak turned around and stomped his foot on the ground.  
  
"Hey worm! Get over here!" He barked at me.  
  
Slowly I moved over toward the console and felt Flak shove me down into the seat. I couldn't believe it. I was at the controls of a Black Hole super weapon. Lash took my hands and repeated the process this time targeting a big tree.  
  
"...so now one of your lackeys knows how to do it. Just make him fire off the weapon when I leave."  
  
"Why can't you do it?" Flak asked angrily. "He doesn't know how to do it! He's just a grunt!"  
  
I was insulted. I could fly a bomber if I had to. This thing was like an oversized videogame. I could level the whole mountain in front of us if it was loaded and ready to go.  
  
"He can do it!" Lash told him. "Besides, I have to go meet with Hawke to see what my next orders are. Tootles!"  
  
"You can't leave." Flak demanded. "What if the Black Cannon gets broke? Who's gonna fix it?"  
  
She looked slightly annoyed and then nodded giving in to Flak's whining. They began to walk off downstairs as Lash was talking about Black Cannon maintenance. As if Flak would understand. Flak is kind of guy you send if you want something broken, you know, a demolition dynamo. Hardly the kind of guy you would ask to fix something. So now I was stuck sitting at this console, if I get up and try to move... Well, I could say I'm going to the bathroom.  
  
I stood up slowly and began to head for the stairs. But then I could hear one of the Black Hole soldiers call out to me. Rick had begun to leave too and he was stopped as well.  
  
"Where are you going?" He asked me.  
  
"I have a question concerning the operation of the Black Cannon for Mistress Lash." I lied calmly.  
  
"And what about you?" He asked Rick while on the subject.  
  
Rick just kind of paused and then raised his gun and shot the soldier through and through. I moved to shoot the other soldier in the corner and looked to Rick angrily.  
  
"What the hell are you doing?" I hissed at him angrily.  
  
"He was gonna sound the alarm!" Rick defended himself.  
  
"You could have just told him you were going to the bathroom!" I yelled.  
  
"How do you know these guys even need to go to the bathroom? Maybe they're aliens who don't take a crap."  
  
It was only a matter of time before someone discovered two bodies in the control room and this whole facility was going to be locked down. I radioed to Ruby while we took off.  
  
"Ruby, Ruby. Rick couldn't keep his finger steady. Our mission is running on borrowed time."  
  
She gave a frustrated sigh. This wasn't the first time something like this came up during one of our sensitive operations.  
  
"Ok. We're finishing up down here. What's you're status? Wounded?"  
  
"No, but we've discovered it takes about a minute or two to aim the cannon and fire. No word on how long it takes for reloading."  
  
"All right, everyone get to the evacuation point. This mission is completed."  
  
"Roger." I replied and turned back toward Rick who hadn't said a thing.  
  
That stupid... Man, if he was just a little bit more creative, we could have avoided this messy situation. It took seconds before we were outside and scrambling through the trees toward a nearby train track. On the other side of the tracks would be a small clearing where our pickup would be. But as we neared the tracks, we soon found a train in our way. A Black Hole train. The sleek silver train was like a black wall to us.  
  
None of us said a thing as we tried to find a way around it. In both directions it was too far to run, so our next plan was to go through it. We spotted an open door heading into one of the train cars and decided we could pass through that way. Fitting in-between the cars was impossible because of these bulky Black Hole combat suits. More bad news, before we could climb up it. Flak and Lash exited the train car and spotted us.  
  
"Hey, what are you two worms doing here?" He demanded eyeing us suspiciously.  
  
Rick stepped forward and I thought he was going to shoot them both.  
  
"We have intruders Lord Flak! Two in the control room!" He explained.  
  
Well, that was a pretty good excuse, but Lash stepped forward with an angry scowl.  
  
"Hey! That's not proper procedure! Your supposed to sound an alarm!" Lash soon realized who we were. "Flak! They're a bunch of fakes! Let's get em'!"  
  
Rick raised his gun, but since he was so close to Flak, it was easy for the big brute to tear his gun away from his suit. The next thing I knew, I could hear a crack as Flak had uppercut Rick's helmet and shattered the glass. I raised my gun to fire, but Lash had all ready drawn a pistol and fired it nailing me in the shoulder and knocking the weapon from my hands. Flak grinned at us maniacally.  
  
"Tee hee hee. Tag! You're it!" Lash giggled.  
  
"Wait till I get my hands on you! I'll smash you good!" He declared.  
  
Rick had managed to crawl away from Flak and was all ready tearing off the suit ready to dive between the train cars. He had some help from him who had knocked his helmet loose and he was free of his Black Hole suit in a flash revealing his Orange Star uniform. I still had to undo my helmet and I was running too. I could spot Rick get tagged in the shoulder by Lash's pistol, but he had made it. Now it was my turn after I had thrown my helmet loose and shed my bulky suit.  
  
I had begun to dart in-between the train cars when I felt Flak's powerful hands grab a hold of me. Mentally I cried out in agony. I was so close. I could feel him rip me away from the train car, but no. Rick's hand shot out and managed to grab my own. Now there was some human tug of war between Flak and Rick. Needless to say, Flak was winning.  
  
"Rick! Get the hell out of here!" I yelled at him.  
  
"Oh no! I got you into this mess! And I'll get you out!" He vowed. "I'm really sorry!"  
  
"You're crazy! We're both going to get caught! You have to get back to base! Tell them about the cannon!"  
  
Then he let go. Actually, he probably lost his grip and Flak's strength ripped me away from him. All I knew is that , I was tumbling across the ground rolling over and over again. I stood up and felt a bullet hit me in the leg. Lash stood there grinning at me like she had found a new toy or something. I was stumbling around with my wounded leg and I tried to head toward the train. But Flak popped up right in front of me and let me have it with a one-two punch.  
  
I had never felt someone hit me with the strength Flak had. Thinking back on it, I had probably slid across the ground a good five feet. Cause I could see the Black Cannon looming over me. Then Flak's humongous shadow and his boot being raised into the air. When it came down, I knew, I would never be the same. Never would Black Hole ever let me be the soldier I once was.  
  
-To be continued...  
  
--Concluded in Chapter 2: Special Treatment 


	2. Chapter 2: Special Treatment

-Advance Wars 2  
  
--Lash Factor  
  
---Chapter 2: Special Treatment  
  
Waking up after getting caught is probably worse than death for a soldier. No matter what happens. You just know they're going to pump you for information. And if that doesn't work, blood will suffice. But not them. Not Black Hole... They were different.  
  
I was tied to a chair. Arms to the arm rests and legs to the legs of the chair. Not to mention the thing was bolted to the ground. I saw two things. A table full of fun looking instruments, and by fun I meant your stereotypical table full of medical hacksaws and knives. And then there was Lash just sitting there and grinning at me. She looked so excited. Like the next hour was going to be filled with unimaginable torture for me...  
  
"Your rotten little CO Andy destroyed my Black Cannon. His guys also took down Flak's forces in the region. Not to mention the rest of your team escaped." She reported to me.  
  
Why was she telling me all this? Wasn't she supposed to tell me they were suffering and dying or some crap like that?  
  
"They saved another section of your country!" She told me in a happy voice throwing her hands up in the air. "It almost calls for a party!"  
  
But then she got serious and narrowed her eyes. She stood up taking a scalpel from her table and walked up to me.  
  
"But oh yeah, they forgot about little old you!"  
  
"Yeah? Well, one guy was never very important..." I told her weakly. "I'd rather get caught so the rest of my team can take you down."  
  
"Well, that's ok! Cause now I have you all to myself. It's gonna be great!"  
  
I knew I was in trouble. Locked in a room alone with Lash when she has all her equipment with her... That's just wrong. That's when you want to start clawing at the walls or something.  
  
"What ever you say..." I responded slowly.  
  
"What if I told you that they were looking for you right now? Scouring the country side?"  
  
Truthfully, I didn't know. There could have been a million different comebacks I could have told her. Like you better start running, or you better enjoy our moments together then. But no, I didn't know what to say. She acknowledged this and walked back to her tray of fun stuff searching through the metallic instruments for something.  
  
"You and I are going to have such fun together." She giggled. "I never was lucky enough to catch the enemy. And you know Flak. He pulverizes his prisoners before I can take them off his hands. But I was lucky this time. I got you right as Flak got you."  
  
Finally she found what she was looking for and turned back toward me. A hypodermic needle. Fun fun. There could be any amount of chemicals in that thing. Anything from truth serum to plain old poison. Lash took her chair in her other hand and scooted it up to me. I was pretty freaked out at that moment. She was so excited that her hand was shaking. But then it stopped, she was just playing around with me.  
  
"Oh god..." I muttered. "Just stick me and get it over with."  
  
She nodded and became focused sticking me in the shoulder and injecting the full contents of the needle into me.  
  
"Tee hee hee! You're a pretty boy aren't you? Well when I'm done. You'll still look pretty... Lash style!" Lash laughed as she began to leave.  
  
She took off just like that and I began to wonder if she just turned me into a bomb or some crap like that. There was no telling what Black Hole could do. The next couple days I felt like I had ridden a merry-go-round for a year without getting off. The room weaved and bobbed and looked like I was staring at it through a bubble. I don't know when Lash returned, but she came back with someone else. Someone I hadn't seen in the briefings. Some long faced guy with a slack appearance and skin as white as snow.  
  
"Hey Adder! This is my new pet I wanted to show you!" She gestured toward me. "We picked him up in Orange Star!"  
  
Adder eh? Never heard of him. I felt like a science project on display now. I just felt like... crap... Adder had his hands in his pockets and walked up to me. Now I noticed his purple hair. Great... Another one for the freak show.  
  
"I bet you're in so much pain." He grinned at me. "And you know, the worse part is. We don't even want anything from you."  
  
"Huh? You mean no interrogations? No softening me up or anything like that? What? You guys don't like to get your hands dirty?" I was asking them in a slurred speech.  
  
Both of them gave a hearty laugh and glanced at each other. Adder took his right hand out of his pocket and snapped his fingers. Lash picked up another needle full of his green crap and handed it over to him. Adder handled it delicately and sauntered over to me. Ah! He just plain jammed it into my arm, not even so much as a blinking an eye! When he yanked it back out I couldn't help but gasp.  
  
"I bet you're wishing you had Lash inject that last one eh?" Adder asked me. "Shows you the penalty for being witty."  
  
"Nothing like a woman's touch..." I gasped.  
  
"Hm... Resistant to the last I see. You still have a lot of work left Lash."  
  
He gave me this grin, never once showing any one of his teeth and backed away tossing the needle to the floor and breaking it. I'll never from this point on forget that laugh... that smooth laugh... My eyes began to burn. Whatever he stuck me with was going to make me go blind!   
  
Eventually I closed my eyes to stop the pain. By the time I managed to open them, they were gone. I could only think back to Adder. If they didn't want me to talk, then why was I still around? Did they just like watching someone suffer that much? Needless to say they were doing a damn good job of it. I wondered if Adder would be making any return visits with Lash, probably when he could spare the time I guess. Lash's visits went on like that for who knows how long.  
  
Every day she showed up, she would inject me with something else. Again and again until I began to wonder where this was all going. An inventor I knew she was, some mad genius with the means and money to experiment. Then one day, I remember she came in with Adder again. They were pretty quiet just looking at me with amazement.  
  
"See Adder?" Lash said finally. "See how good he looks now? He just needed some reformatting!"  
  
Reformatting? What was I? Some kind of tool for them to tweak?  
  
"Well, Lash." Adder seemed at a loss for words. "For once, I'm impressed. Are you going to show him to Hawke?"  
  
"Naw, Hawke is way to busy teaching Green Earth to play dead." Lash explained. "Soon I'll be sticking it good to Blue Moon. Tee hee hee! It'll be the most fun I've had in a long time!"  
  
Adder had moved in front of me looking down like he usually does. Like I'm some cockroach or something. Like he would step on me if I wasn't under Lash's constant supervision.  
  
"Soon you're going to idolize Black Hole." Adder told me darkly. "You're going to worship Lord Sturm like you will me."  
  
"I'd rather die."  
  
I froze upon hearing my voice. How much it had changed. Instead of sounding like a normal human, I more croaked than anything else. I had such a hoarse voice. It reminded me of Flak when he was screaming out angrily at the top of his lungs, only it wasn't as loud.  
  
"You would, wouldn't you?" Adder noted. "I heard you snuck into one of our bases using a Black Hole suit. But soon enough, you'll wear that suit indefinitely."  
  
"I'll go to hell first." I muttered.  
  
"Poor, poor fool... Haven't you heard?"  
  
Adder paused and I couldn't help but look upwards at him with slightest bit of concern. Was Orange Star getting crushed or something? I hadn't heard anything about them after that initial report by Lash.  
  
"You're in hell already." He finished finally.  
  
"Ok Adder. That's enough for today. As much as you love to hear yourself talk. I still have some finishing touches to do yet!"  
  
She pushed Adder out and was gone. When it was all over, I wish I could have told you I fought the good fight and resisted all this stuff. Well, I probably could have if it was like I expected it. But this was different. They didn't torture me directly. They just injected me with stuff and let me sit. Came in every once and awhile and bad mouthed me. Adder was worse than Lash. Maybe cause it looked like he knew everything.  
  
Days just blended into times. I didn't know what day it was. The only thing I could see was the table and the wooden chairs. And the poor lighting. I guess the final time I was in that room was when Lash came in with Adder and Flak. The gang's all here I thought. This is it. My last day. When Flak looked at me, he could only drop his big dumb mouth open and stare.  
  
"He looks like the boss!" Flak seemed to realize.  
  
"Why, what an intelligent observation you made Flak." Adder scoffed at him. "I'm surprised really."  
  
"Come on say it! Say it! Come on! You have to say it!" She demanded from Adder and Flak.  
  
Me? I still didn't know what the hell was going on. But Lash soon picked up a flat object and moved in front of me. That smile... that smile... all of them with that smile... Why didn't it bother me anymore? It seemed perfectly acceptable. I didn't care I realized. I rather enjoyed their smile. It was so... fulfilling.  
  
"Fine Lash. I can't stand it anymore. You're a genius. Now show him what he looks like after your makeover!" Adder ordered.  
  
Lash nodded and raised the flat surface in front of me. It was a mirror. I remembered what I looked like from so long ago when I was in the Orange Star Army. And I looked nothing like I did now. If I was still the same person when I was caught, I would have broken down into tears upon seeing my reflection.   
  
But not now. All that injecting and all those talks, I had grown to admire them. Adder, Lash, even Flak. Part of me was deeply disturbed that they could have done this to me. But another part was just glad they had graced me with their presence. Finally she lowered the mirror and Adder snapped his fingers. Some soldiers I never noticed before stepped out from the shadows and untied me. I stood up slowly letting my arms drop down to my sides.  
  
"Check it out guys! I'm soooo good! He's just like our regular soldiers, except with a mix of Orange Star in there! Tee hee hee! He doesn't need to wear the suit or anything at all to live in this environment."  
  
Lash was talking a million miles per hour. It was like she couldn't believe she had done this. But I looked down at my arms and legs as they did. They were all bulked up, even more so than when I was caught.  
  
"He's a freak." Adder grinned. "Suit him up. Then Flak can arrange a trip home."  
  
"I can't wait till I see you smashing your own guys!" Flak grinned.  
  
You don't know what a nightmare this was for me. I don't think they knew about it, but while I was following their orders and looking at them with the utmost respect... I was screaming inside. It's like a bad dream. You can see it all, you can't believe your doing it. But you are. Before long, I had put on one of those combat suits with the rocket launcher on the backpack and their high powered machine gun. After a couple weeks of Black Hole education, I'm being shipped out to defend this laboratory Orange Star had discovered. They certainly wasted no time on me.  
  
I soon found out as I was grouped in my new unit. Lash had me kept in the Black Hole Factory, that massive structure that was the backbone of Black Hole's deployment power. We took the first Transport Copter that was out of the factory and headed towards Flak's forces. He was caught trying to defend a lab from Orange Star and needed to hold them off.  
  
The T Copter set us down next to the laboratory as there was Black Hole soldiers running everywhere. Burning files and piling stuff into trucks. It was chaos. They certainly didn't think Orange Star was going to find this place, and deep down I enjoyed every minute of it. The panic that ran through their guys.  
  
"Hey! What are you five standing around for!" Flak barked at us after exiting from the lab. "Someone is spotting for the invading forces! My Artillery and Rockets are getting marked! Take them out! Now!"  
  
We all moved out at his command. moving up along this beach as Artillery came down on the other side. The bridge was being blocked by some tanks and infantry, but it wasn't enough. I could tell. From my previous experiences in Orange Star still intact, Flak didn't have the manpower to hold this facility much longer, nor the tactical expertise.  
  
With our suits, we knew the exact location of every friendly unit we had. Now that was some Intel right there up to date at every second. An Artillery position north of us was flashing red indicating that there was hostiles near by. We entered the forest easy enough and began to search for them. It was going to take some time clearing this place, I knew. Time we didn't have.  
  
"Troops! Noise to the left." Our squad leader reported to us.  
  
The brush was pretty thick and we could easily hear the artillery pounding away a couple steps away from us. I had learned from Lash's little talks that most of Black Hole's major units were robotic, totally automatic only requiring personnel for maintenance. The only thing needed to run one of these things were orders from a CO. Personally, I always wondered why Black Hole's Rockets, Missiles and, Artillery never had any spotters.  
  
"Heckler!" A soldier named Glock pointed out to me. "There's one in the tree! Take him down, quick!"  
  
My suits infrared shown a person up in the tree with binoculars. Yeah, there was definitely a soldier up there. Without even hesitating I opened fire, but the guy I was aiming for knew it was coming and leapt down with machine gun blazing. He ignored me and took out Glock who was closer. Before we knew it, there was three more running out and putting down some cover fire.  
  
This tactic seemed familiar to me. Too familiar. I aimed to do in the guy who was in the tree. But as he turned around, I caught a glimpse of his face. Rick, his name registered in my long forgotten past and I stuttered in my fire. He was quick enough to dodge it when I finally did start shooting and dove over toward the artillery.  
  
"Heckler! Do not endanger artillery battery!" I heard the squad leader warn me.  
  
"Fine." I muttered and removed my gun from my hand.  
  
I had a knife anyway, and pulled it from a compartment on my suit. Slice and dice eh?  
  
"Dammit Rick! I never was able to get you back for all this!" I yelled at him as my new mind made me amplify any hatred toward Black Hole's enemies.  
  
He paused dumbfounded upon hearing my voice. That gave me an opportunity to take a swipe at his arm and the sudden burst of pain caused him to drop his gun. But with that he was back in action and dove at me. Now we were both on the ground fighting.   
  
There was a quick moment when he thought he could take my knife, but I had a damn good grip on it. The best he could do is keep from getting stabbed and held my hands out from me as we literally kicked the crap out of each other. Hm... I knew that our unit was doomed. Flak's shoddy training doomed the other guys to Sami's expertly trained special forces.  
  
I wondered how long I could hold out. Even if I killed Rick, I would be done in by his other surviving team members. Anger surged throughout my body and my with my suit, I began to kick harder than he could.  
  
"Soon as I get up. You're eating lead!" I growled and tossed him off of me.  
  
I headed back towards my gun scooping it up and setting it to full automatic. But then I realized how much better I could do and removed my rocket launcher. It wasn't common to use it on personnel, but I'm a part of Black Hole right? I was taking this guy down no matter what. Aiming it, there was no way he could avoid taking a rocket to the chest, but then he shouted out something peculiar.  
  
"Heckler! Stand down!" He shouted out.  
  
What the hell... I could vaguely regain my senses. I wasn't watching myself anymore, I could control my body. Although there was nothing I could to stop from launching the rocket, I re-directed it toward a much more appealing target. The artillery. Rick ran for his life as the rocket went screaming towards the artillery and hit one square in the side. I remember I was laughing, it felt so good to get back at those monsters in Black Hole...  
  
"Heckler? Is that you?" I heard Rick ask me.  
  
"Rick... Don't come any closer..." I gasped realizing I was losing control again. "I'm Black Hole now..."  
  
-To be Continued...  
  
-Concluded in Chapter 3: Lasting Impressions 


	3. Chapter 3: Lasting Impressions

-Advance Wars 2  
  
--Lash Factor  
  
---Chapter 3: Lasting Impressions  
  
I remember fighting back a terrible urge to make Rick Swiss cheese. It's like a sickness. You don't know how long you can fight it off before you toss your cookies or however you say that. However, there was so much I wanted to say...  
  
"Rick... Please... Take me out now..." I pleaded.  
  
"Heckler? God... What did they do to you?" He was visibly shaken even though under Sami's command we had seen a lot.  
  
"How long have I been gone?"  
  
"Five months..." Rick answered slowly, then swallowed hard. "Five months... We gave you a funeral and everything... We didn't think they'd let you live..."  
  
I began to laugh and caused Rick to jump. Maybe he thought I was going on insane? Maybe he was right.  
  
"I'm about to shoot you, and we're talking about how we've been." I laughed.  
  
He laughed too.  
  
"Yeah... War can make people do crazy things..." He admitted silently.  
  
"So... How's everyone?"  
  
"Kind of broken when you got caught... We've never been the same..." Rick explained shamefully.  
  
"Aren't you supposed to be cocky?" I asked. "What happened to you anyway?"  
  
He put on this shocked face and I spun around arming my gun to see a couple Black Hole soldiers closing in on us. They waved to me to take Rick out, but instead I fired on them, watching as they fell to the ground.  
  
"I'm talking to him here!" I shouted out. "I'm talking and I don't want to go back! I don't want to go back! Rick you gotta get me out of here! Don't let me go back to Black Hole!"  
  
I think at that moment I had completely lost it. Those five odd months in Black Hole's TLC just snapped at that moment. Seeing Rick and getting to talk to him and touching back upon a life I once knew. I just couldn't take anymore. I began to shake and I dropped to my knees.   
  
No more. It's gotta stop. Lash just turned me into a science project. I was actually taking orders from Flak... It's craziness. Rick ran over and picked me up, making me move. Suddenly we were running away from the artillery as the undamaged ones fired off into the blue yonder.  
  
We were moving so fast the forest just kind of blurred past us. Before I knew it, we had met up with the others. All of em'. Once they spotted me they had all raised their guns and were about ready to fire when Rick just dropped me and held his hands up.  
  
"Wait! It's Heckler! You guys! It's Heckler!" Rick tried to explain frantically.  
  
"What?" Palmer shouted out. "Rick have you gone nuts? Heckler's dead! Black Hole got him!"  
  
"No! It's him! They turned him... They forced him to their side!" His voice was racing.  
  
Both of us knew that if he didn't make an explanation that they could understand, I was going to be shot to death real soon. I didn't bother getting up until I heard one of them cuss or shout my name out in joy or something. I didn't hear anything of the sort and decided to stand up. No gunshots, that's always nice.  
  
"Palmer... You're still bald. Thank god something is still ok in this world." I joked with a weak tone.  
  
All of them looked like they've been stabbed or something. The amount of surprise on their face couldn't have been explained. Victor took a step forward and put his head up against my visor. It was near impossible to see me unless you were that close. He eventually nodded solemnly and turned back toward the others.  
  
"It's Heckler." He said simply.  
  
"Well... uh... We need to discuss this sometime later!" Ruby finally regained her senses. "Let's get out of here!"  
  
With that we were off and finally I could move on my own without fear of getting the crap shot out of me. It was kind of funny. I was the only guy in a big black suit while the others were in their Orange uniforms. I must have stuck out like a sore thumb. We made our way across a field heading toward a helicopter that was circling the area. It came down and when the door slid open, I was greeted with a pistol.  
  
"Easy! He's with us!" Ruby explained and we all piled in. "Radio to HQ and tell them we've rescued a POW."  
  
I thought I might need an extra push or something, but the suit had put a spring in my step and I leapt up into it easily. Strangely enough, I took my own spot where we usually sat down and everyone just kind of stared at me uneasily. It was a pretty awkward bit of silence. At that time, I knew what they were thinking. What they were going to say, or ask me. All this time they'd thought Black Hole shot me up into a bloody heap. But here I was... In their uniform... alive.  
  
"What... what did they do to you?" Palmer asked finally.  
  
"It's hard to remember... All these needles... And Lash was there... Flak, Adder..."  
  
"Adder?" Ruby asked after a time. "Who is Adder?"  
  
"Another Black Hole CO. Real tall and has the palest white skin you've ever seen, and purple hair. A cruel psycho."  
  
My mind was working in fragments. I didn't know at the time, but it was my two lifestyles ramming into each other to form one again. The one lifestyle where I served Orange Star, the country I was born in. And then there was Lash's injected lifestyle, forcing me to work for Black Hole like a mindless zombie.   
  
"It's been so long Heckler... Can you take off that helmet?" Ruby told me. "We've never really been the same after you got caught. We couldn't even bear to replace you after you left, we just went on. One man down."  
  
I had moved to take off my helmet. But paused remembering that moment in Lash's laboratory. She handed me that mirror and held it in front of me. My face... my brand new face... Those injections had done more than simply warp my subconscious, they had... Needless to say I soon stopped and let my hands fall down to my sides. They all stared at me for a time.  
  
"What's wrong?" Rick asked. "Why don't you take it off all ready?"  
  
"I can't... I mean... I can't show you guys what I look like now. You wouldn't..."  
  
"Did they torture you? Some scarring on your face?" Rick interrupted. "Hell, Heckler. We won't mind if you're ugly now. You'd just be like the rest of us."  
  
It was a joke and they all kind of laughed uncomfortably. But I didn't. He was joking around with something he could possibly understand. But they let it drop for now. Soon enough the copter was returning to HQ. Looking out the side it seemed so familiar, all the Orange copters and tanks sitting around. Plenty of infantry divisions. Rick had reached over while I gazed out the window and took my machine gun.  
  
"Can I hold onto this? We wouldn't want anyone shooting you..."  
  
The Copter set down and immediately I could see Sami and Nell standing there on the helipad. Seems like this was going to be a big occasion after all. Course, Ruby didn't say who the POW was when she explained to the helicopter pilot why I got in. But then my stomach dropped when the copter's doors slid open. How could I explain to my CO and Supreme Commander that I couldn't take my helmet off... Maybe I could sign up for the Orange Star space program...  
  
We all piled out and the copter took off again to head for refueling. Standard procedure as I knew it. Nell and Sami were both pretty surprised to see a Black Hole soldier pile out of the copter and the soldiers around them raised their guns, just waiting for the order to fire. Ruby held her hands out and ran up to Sami.  
  
"No! Wait! Commanders, this is James Heckler. He was caught during Operation: Black Cannon. He's the soldier we thought was dead..."  
  
Well, Ruby still didn't explain why I was wearing a Black Hole uniform. Rick, who was taking my place as second in command moved up and saluted.  
  
"He was in some kind of Black Hole experiment ma'am. We managed to refresh his memory..."  
  
"How do you know this for sure?" Sami asked unconvinced. "It could be a Black Hole ploy, and your unit has never been the same..."  
  
Hell, this was never going to work. There was too many "what ifs" they could throw. If anything I should have been in shackles all ready. Nell had kept silent the whole time simply staring at me carefully. With the little instructors stick at her side, it seemed the whole time she was trying to decide whether it was worth it to take me back in.  
  
"Sami... If you don't mind. I'd like to take this into a more secure setting." Nell advised suddenly.  
  
"Of course ma'am." She saluted. "All right, all of you come with me. We're going to straighten this out."  
  
Under an escort, we headed into the base moving down a couple hallways and getting strange looks from soldiers we passed. Normally I couldn't stand getting treated like a freak... But after Lash's sessions... I couldn't help but to agree. It didn't take long before we had gotten to a debriefing room complete with the Orange Star flag, a long wooden table, and a huge monitor used for displaying information and troop movements.   
  
My old team took seats as Sami took one at the head of the table. Nell stood to Sami's right and kept a firm eye on me. Thinking back on it, I had never seen much of Nell before. She was a legend of course, the mastermind behind Orange Star and a valuable instructor to new COs. There was a seat for me, but part of my Black Hole training was never take a seat unless your ordered too, so I stood near the door.  
  
"You can take a seat soldier." Sami instructed me.  
  
For awhile I didn't quite pick up on it. Until I shook my head.  
  
"Sorry ma'am... I wasn't allowed too.... Black Hole told me..."  
  
"Well you aren't in Black Hole anymore. So you can sit down."  
  
You should have seen their faces when I addressed Sami as ma'am. This had to have proven it to them on several levels that it was me. Nell and Sami were pretty disturbed hearing me tell them about what I could and couldn't do when in Black Hole's service. I took a seat and turned the chair so they knew I was looking at them since my helmet masked my face so well.  
  
"So... What happened?"  
  
"Well ma'am." Ruby began with a deep breath. "We went to gain intel on Flak's artillery position for Commander Andy as instructed. We were quickly found out by a mechanized Black Hole unit. We engaged them, took them down, and that's when Private Rick regrouped helping along a Black Hole soldier. He identified this soldier as our missing vehicle specialist, James Heckler."  
  
It went on like that for awhile. They all gave their reports about the situation. Sami was still trying to figure out if I was really James Heckler. Then, the question I had been waiting for came.  
  
"Remove your helmet." Sami ordered.  
  
I just froze at that moment. Remove my helmet... seemed simple enough... But no. I just couldn't. To do so would jeopardize everything I wanted to be. I wanted to be a part of Orange Star again, I wanted to get back at Adder and Lash for treating me like a petri dish.  
  
"No." I answered.  
  
"Heckler, you have to do this. If you don't remove it, we'll never know it's really you." Rick encouraged me.  
  
Nell had begun to tap her stick on the table getting everyone's attention.  
  
"Will you all please clear the room?" She commanded keeping an eye on me.  
  
"Are you sure that's wise ma'am?" Sami asked slowly.  
  
She nodded her head and they all began to leave as I sat there looking at Nell. She moved forward and set her stick under her arm. While pushing a seat to get next to me. There was so much calm in her face, you could know that any battle under her supervision was going to go great as long as she was there.  
  
"Private Heckler... remove your helmet." She told me.  
  
There was nothing I could say to refuse. An order like that? Direct from your supreme commander? I unlatched the helmet and lifted it off of my head slowly. Along with Adder's laugh, I'll never forget Nell's face when she saw mine unobstructed by the helmet. She seemed so deeply sad seeing me and didn't once turn away. Just kept looking at me, like it hurt her more than it did me... Maybe that was true...  
  
"I'm so sorry..." She said after a time in a low voice.  
  
"Please don't be." I choked out. "I wanted to serve my country... Sometimes, you have to make some sacrifices..."  
  
"Do you really believe that... Personally?"  
  
I slammed the helmet back on my head and began to breathe deeply. No, I didn't believe that. I knew maybe I would be tortured or some crap, but what actually happened to me? No. I don't think anyone would give up as much as I lost in that dark room with Lash and her gallery of needles and chemicals. I stood up angrily and so did Nell resuming her commanding composure.  
  
"What do you think you are doing soldier?"  
  
"I'm gonna kill... I'm gonna kill them all!" I yelled. "I'm gonna wipe the floor with Flak and Lash! Flak for catching me... and Lash for changing me..."  
  
This little fantasy of me killing both of them began to unfold in my mind.  
  
"No. You don't want to do that. Not the way you're thinking. We need to punish them that much is true... But here we can help you..."  
  
"What? You want to stick even more needles in me! I'm not a science project anymore! I want revenge for this!"  
  
Nell obviously thought that the chemicals were doing a number in my head. But it was just me. I was so angry now... I knew that I could never go back to Orange Star like this. I was on my own. I was going to get Flak and Lash, maybe the entire Black Hole army... It didn't matter what was going to happen to me now. I wanted to get them... I wanted to get them so badly, my body hurt.  
  
I spun around as the door opened and my suit kicked into overdrive. I charged Rick who was at the door and gave him a gut check while taking back my machine gun. He went flying back into the hallway and took down the rest of my unit and almost toppled Sami over at the same time. I had never moved so fast in my life. It was like Sami's CO ability, Double Time, only this suit enabled me to do it on my own.  
  
The soldiers in the hallway raised their weapons but someone had shouted out, "Don't shoot!". That didn't stop a couple bullets from escaping their guns and nailing me in my metal backpack which deflected the bullets. Soon I found myself outside, with soldiers scrambling all over the place trying to get me before I got away. There was a recon jeep nearby and I raised my weapon causing the driver to freeze in his tracks.  
  
"Get the hell out!" I yelled angrily.  
  
He leapt out of the vehicle and I jumped in stomping the gas and rocketing away. Someone was aiming for my wheels, and managed to nail my right front tire. It was hard to steer but I didn't once let up on the gas. Soon I could see the security gate, the soldiers were standing in front with their weapons raised. There was a possibility at that point, that I wanted to die just as much as getting away, so it was no surprise when I didn't duck for cover when they began to shoot.  
  
None of the bullets came close to me though and hit the metal frame of the jeep. Before you knew it, I had smashed through the gate and was rocketing down a forested road towards the Black Hole lines. I knew where I was going. My Black Hole training told me where all the major facilities were in Orange Star, and where Flak and Lash would be if something seriously important occurred. I could do it, I told myself, I could take these two out.   
  
But my dreams were quickly put on hold when the tire finally gave out and caused me to swerve into a nearby tree. I tumbled out as the recon jeep slammed into the tree and blew up throwing ammo belts and machine gun parts clear into the air. I didn't need a weapon, I all ready had one on my suit. This little crash didn't stop me as I kept going, standing up and running for it. The majority of the suit's systems were at full tilt so I made tracks down the road never looking back once.  
  
-To be continued...  
  
--Concluded in Chapter 4: Tactical Tank Action 


	4. Chapter 4: Tactical Tank Action

-Advance Wars 2  
  
--Lash Factor  
  
---Chapter 4: Tactical Tank Action  
  
I don't think I rested for two days after I broke out of Sami's HQ. I just kept moving. Sometimes I was moving, sometimes the systems of the suit were moving me for me. All I knew is that by using the suit's computer to view the map of the area, I needed to do a hell of a lot more walking to reach Flak's current position. He was going head on with Max, Orange Star's muscle, with a collection of planes, bombers and helicopters. A small air force.  
  
But I remembered something from my orders when still a part of Black Hole. They didn't authorize Flak to use any air units because Orange Star's terrain didn't require any. The only explanation was Flak didn't give a damn and was doing everything his own way, so long as he didn't get caught.  
  
Walking out in the middle of nowhere with all that silence eventually got me to open up a channel to current Black Hole operations against Max. I quickly learned that there wasn't much for Flak to smash with his air force, most of Max's troops were on the ground, with anti-air. Then I heard a vehicle approaching and quickly darted to the side of the road. Thank god! A vehicle.  
  
I was even more excited when it pulled up. An APC! I leapt out of the tress as quickly as I had dove for them and managed to get up along side it trying to get a foothold and climbing up onto it. Suddenly the suit activated magnetic grips and I stuck right onto the side of it. That was... an odd moment. Until I got on top of the thing that is. It was a Black Hole APC, going toward the battle obviously which made my walking a little bit less extensive.  
  
We began to drive alongside this huge lake while Flak's air units tried to dive bomb Max's ground positions. I could see them outlined on the map. Needless to say, Flak was going to die before he saw the end of this battle. I was going to make sure of it. Eventually the APC approached the compound and went through the security gate. As far as I knew, I was still a legitimate Black Hole soldier, so I figured I didn't have to act like I was infiltrating a base. Hell, we all looked the same.  
  
I began to move quickly, trying to look busy. It didn't take long to locate Flak, who was trying to think of an escape plan. In other words, I had a lot of time to try to find out how to take him down without getting killed and letting Lash off the hook. He was marching around some Medium Tanks and yelling out at the soldiers around him.  
  
"Move move, move!" Flak barked. "Come on let's go! Max will be here any minute! I gotta get out of here!"  
  
"Sir! The cargo plane is loaded like you requested." One soldier saluted.  
  
"Good, now take off!"  
  
What? Without him on it? What was he trying to do? Be smart or something? I decided to creep around some parked APCs while trying to get closer. There were about four Medium Tanks lined up facing another gate, looking like they were ready to roll out.  
  
"All right worms! Listen up! The cargo plane is going to take off soon, supposedly with me on it. Course' that's what Max will think, but I'm going to escape using these tanks here!"  
  
He talked like forming a plan was so new and difficult. Like no one in the world could touch the kind of military planning he had. Which was none mind you. He had none. The only thing he knew how to do right, is smash things. That's it. That's Flak's big plan every single time. Flak leapt onto one of the tanks and opened up the hatch getting in. The soldiers standing around him began to get in and that's when I decided to move.  
  
I darted up to the nearest tank driver and strangled him. At that moment, I thought shooting him might get Flak to pop his bulbous head from his tank and see the mess. Quickly I leapt up into the driverless tank and began to run down the controls memorizing where what was. This was it. I was going to take Flak out with his own tank. Oh, but I'm sorry. I was going to "smash" him with his own tank.  
  
Using the monitor, I rotated the turret and locked on to the lead tank. Flak wasn't in it, but I decided that I needed some privacy to work here. With my heart racing, I pulled the lever down and the cannon went off slamming the tank in the side and nearly flipping it over. It was decimated anyway. Flak popped his head up and looked around confused.  
  
"What the hell?" He muttered to himself.  
  
I popped my domed helmet out of my tank and yelled out to him.  
  
"Remember me Flak? You remember what your army did to me? I'm gonna kill you! You big dumb grunt!"  
  
I could see him reel backwards almost like he didn't believe his ears and suddenly my tank shuttered. The rear Medium Tank behind me had rammed me and began to push me sideways as Flak ducked back into his and began to take off. Angrily I pushed my levers forward for each tread and began to take off trying to escape the tank behind me.  
  
A thundering boom went off as the tank tried to hit me, but missed as I darted around an APC and began to burn through the HQ, Black Hole soldiers running for their lives. I activated the onboard computer to lock onto the tank in pursuit, but with my constant darting from side to side, it wasn't easy for it to lock on. Flak was getting away, so I spun the tank around and headed right back the way I came.  
  
I ran down the gates of the HQ and took off down the road Flak had gestured to in his big escape plan. Taking a look in the rear view camera, I could see the pursuit tank was still on my ass. Nothing I could do about that now but try to avoid the guy. The automated systems didn't work as fast as a gunner team. My tank ramped fallen trees and crushed just about anything else in its path.  
  
Suddenly rockets began to land around me. Damn! Orange Star had closed in a lot faster than I anticipated. Even though Max's troops had bad training when it concerned rockets and artillery, they could still fire and that meant they were pretty damn close. The Medium Tank was a pretty big target too. If I was lucky, the tank behind me would get snagged by a rocket or two.  
  
Finally I could spot Flak's Medium Tank a couple miles ahead and I knew I could catch up if I pushed my tank's systems hard enough. But as I got closer, I could see Flak was turning his turret around, he was going to try and blast me!  
  
"Crap, crap, crap. Uh... err... geez..." I was trying to find something in the tanks systems to fix this situation.  
  
My turret was all ready on it's way targeting the tank behind me. So I soon did the only thing I could possibly do at that moment. I swerved my tank off the road to the left and just in time too. The cameras showed Flak's blast clearly nailed the other tank and took it out. Ha ha. Yeah, that's the kind of thing Flak would do. But with my off road incursion, I was no longer trailing Flak and soon came out onto a road.  
  
It still went in the direction he was heading though so I punched it, while popping the hatch and looking to my right to see if I could spot him. But then I heard more motors and a more company showed up. Orange Star tanks. Oh dammit. I didn't want to fire on them, but I knew what they were going to do. Mistaking me for the enemy. I fired off a round and the shot went right between them almost flipping them into the air.  
  
The road began to move right and suddenly Flak's tank tore onto the road behind me. I couldn't believe it. I had actually passed the guy. Bad news for me though, cause Flak had taken the time to spin his turret facing the way he was going and all he had to do was push a switch to make me disappear. Frantically I got out of my tank and stood on the main turret and then leapt onto Flak's as he fired off a round. The explosion doubled my jump and I nearly overshot his tank.  
  
Landing on the back, I could hear him as he opened up his turret to inspect the destruction he had caused. While he was gloating over his damage, I got up and grabbed his throat trying to suffocate him. That was a pretty bad move. I had forgotten how bulked up this guy was so he easily ripped my hands away and spun around punching my helmet and sending me sprawling backwards.  
  
It got even more crazy as a pair of Orange Star recon vehicles pulled up on both sides of Flak's tank and began to open fire on him and me! Didn't they see I tried to kill the guy? The gunners were pretty close to shooting me into Swiss cheese as Flak spun his turret and blew one of the Recon vehicles into kingdom come. With that taken care of, he swerved the tank and ran the other off the road. That's when he hit a humongous bump and I fell off.  
  
Rolling to the ground, I quickly jumped back up and considered running after him like a fool. Since he had a nice mounted gun at his side, I figured that wasn't a good idea. So I spun around towards the damaged recon vehicle. The soldiers had piled out of the jeep a little bit dazed from their crash and I took that moment to hijack it. They shouted out some angry words and almost went as far as to try to shoot me as I took off toward Flak again.  
  
Now this is a chase vehicle. This sucker was fast and I instantly caught up with the rampaging Medium Tank and wondered how long it would be until Max deployed some Medium Tanks of his own. The forest suddenly subsided and we were in a clearing. I took a box of ammo to the machine gun and dropped it on the gas pedal. Since the windshield of the recon vehicle was shattered, it made it easy for me to climb onto the hood and jump back onto Flak's tank.  
  
Eventually the road curved and the recon vehicle went speeding off into the high grass never to be seen again. My next big problem was getting back into the tank, since Flak had closed the hatch, but the sound of rotors filled my ears. A Black Hole transport copter had come onto the scene obviously trying to save him because of his dumb plan he cooked up.  
  
He popped out facing away from me and I bashed him over the head with my machine gun. I should have known he didn't have a brain to feel that and he quickly spun around and hit my feet nearly knocking me off of the tank again. I grabbed onto his jacket and kept myself from falling off as it sped through the field in no particular direction. He looked up quickly to see the side door to the Transport Copter open up, and a soldier threw down a rope to him.  
  
"Well well, well. The little Orange Star worm wants to get revenge? You should have thought twice before messing with me."  
  
Flak lost his cocky smile when I raised my hand with the machine gun on it and pointed it at him.  
  
"Flak! Die!" I yelled at him.  
  
He flung his head back as I opened fire and I hit the copter's cockpit dead on. You should have saw the pitiful face Flak made when his escape chopper soon began to spin in the air before crashing to the ground in a fiery pulp. The next thing I knew, Flak had ripped the gun from my hand and was gritting his teeth like he wanted to kill the world.  
  
"Worm!" He shouted out flushed with anger. "Time to get smashed!"  
  
He picked me up and let out a ferocious yell before slamming my helmet into the tank. The glass visor shattered instantly and soon I was undoing the clasps before Flak decided to slam me into the tank again. This time it really would be my face. Right as he went back to gain momentum for another smash, I finally undid the helmet and escaped from his grip. Now all he held was the empty broken helmet and looked around confused.  
  
"How's that for a plan! You stupid muscle head!" I began to kick him in the face.  
  
Flak was letting out painful grunts as I went to work on him. But my position on top didn't hold long as the uneven ground shook me from my delicate position. Now I had fallen and was staying off the ground by holding onto the main gun of the Medium Tank. Holy hell, this was getting crazy!  
  
"Arrrrrrrggggggg!!!!!! I'm outta control!" Flak bellowed.  
  
Ok... Now things got a little bit trickier. Flak decided to use one of his CO Abilities. Nothing short of a magic trick on epic proportions. Who knows what could happen when it's focused on one person?  
  
"You're going to die worm! You're going to die right now!" He vowed.  
  
That's when the tank came to a screeching stop and I went flying from the main gun tumbling across the ground. Flak had jumped down from the tank and was running toward me with his fists up, ready to beat the crap out of someone. That someone was me. Foolishly I decided to take him on. That was probably the dumbest decision of my entire life as a soldier in war. When the first punch hit me, I was reminded of that first time he nailed me.  
  
Instant suffering. With no helmet, I had forgotten how vulnerable my face was and I went down hard. But Flak was not content with this and picked me up roaring out like a mad man. I think it would have taken a platoon of Orange Star's best to take him down now. I was doomed if something didn't happen real fast. I was kicking and punching him with the most force I could possibly conger up. But I didn't do a thing and soon found myself kissing the ground.  
  
When I regained my vision I saw his boot come up and I grabbed it as it came down and shoved it aside. It was Flak's turn to fall down as he lost balance and hit the ground hard. I leapt back up onto my feet and began to kick him in the stomach as he was getting back up on all fours. But much like I did to him, he caught it and stood back up sending me airborne. When Flak launched me, I did a flip in mid air before surrendering to gravity.  
  
The next time he came down, he came down hard with a pile driver to my chest. I think if I wasn't wearing that suit, he probably would have broken my sternum. It certainly knocked the air out of me. Now Flak was on his knees and all I could make out was his fists flying up and down beating me into submission. If only I had a gun... Then, right before he was going to knock me unconscious, he paused and we both looked up to hear more rotors in the air.  
  
Another Black Hole Transport Copter had come and this time Lash was yelling out angrily for Flak to get his ass inside the chopper. I could tell through his goggles that he was torn between two things. Either kill me... Or live to fight another day before Orange Star caught him... If I was as persistent as I thought I was, I decided that was a pretty tough choice.  
  
"You lucky little worm..." Flak was mumbling to me as he stood up. "I'm gonna crush your country, then I'll crush you."  
  
"Flak! Get in here now!" Lash demanded. "We have to take out Sami now! Western Coast! Is anything making sense to you!"  
  
He ran and got into the chopper and they both took off. I could only gasp for air and slowly sat up feeling the pain shoot up and down my body. The chopper took off as I crawled towards the tank and sat up against it watching them disappear into a small dot. This was but a temporary setback... I was going to get them both eventually...  
  
I had to thank Lash for not noticing me on the ground. Western Coast... I knew that facility. That was an Orange Star staging point for our navy... This Medium Tank could get me there in good time. Slowly I began to work my way back into the tank. My body groaned with pain. Rule number one folks. No matter how dumb Flak looks, he can beat the crap out of you when ever he wants. Just shoot him before he gets riled up.  
  
Once I was moving, I had a chance to rest for a moment. The Black Hole Medium Tank was pretty advanced when I took the moment to look over it. I would probably call it a nice piece of work... If it wasn't from Black Hole. Whoever got these guys going knows a whole lot about advanced technology. But enough about them, soon as I knocked off Lash and Flak, I could finally be happy... And I could get them back for what they did to me... For what their army did to my life...  
  
-To be continued  
  
--Concluded in Chapter 5: Train Reaction 


	5. Chapter 5: Train Reaction

-Advance Wars 2  
  
--Lash Factor  
  
---Chapter 5: Train Reaction  
  
What was I saying about Black Hole technology before? That it was advanced or something? Well forget it. It's a piece of crap. That's what it is. I got halfway toward the Western Coast facility when the tank died on me. Engine in all, just started smoking and gave out on me. Piece of crap! I hope the guys fighting in these things have to deal with maintenance problems as well! Geez... Guess I better get walking.  
  
The only good thing I could say that the tank gave out right before the beach. So during my walk, I could enjoy the sun and surf. That was pretty nice. The ocean waves washing along the shore. The sunset. A pretty serene picture. I heard some places in Yellow Comet had some nice places like this too. Unfortunately, reality set back in when I could hear the heavy guns of Battleships going off in the distance.  
  
Soon as I rounded the corner. I could see Black Hole and Orange Star forces going at it. Rockets and heavy shells were flying everywhere. Turns out the main event of the battle was going on at an island right across from my shore and I was on Black Hole's side of the fence. Good for me, bad for Lash and Flak... If they were both here that is. But it didn't matter who was commanding the forces, I could tell it started in a hurry.  
  
There was just an atmosphere about it that told me it was a frantic battle. Everything was happening so quickly. It had to have been an ambush. With that in mind I began to hurry. Maybe I could jack a vehicle or something? It didn't take long before I could spot the center where Black Hole was running their show. They had one of their strange buildings as the field command center.  
  
Too bad the bridge was about as defended as their central HQ. Dammit. I wasn't going to get over there that way. Then I heard a train whistle blow and could see that same black train that made me collide with Lash and Flak in the first place. It was approaching pretty fast, and on a whim I began to run after it as it passed. I leapt onto the back and tried the door, thankfully, it was unlocked and I snuck in.  
  
The rear train car was some kitchen car with two levels. The downstairs was a meat locker, so I went in there knowing I wouldn't find any soldiers waiting to find me. I got in just in time as some soldiers appeared taking their normal routes. They stopped near a culinary table and began to talk, I could tell because they nodded their heads and gave looks at each other every so often.  
  
But that's when my skin began to crawl, then began to burn. I looked down at it, it was bubbling. In seconds it felt like I had slapped acid onto my palms and began to rub them together. I nearly screamed in agony as that only made it worse and I eventually had no choice and got out of the large meat locker. They didn't turn around so I quickly started away from them heading up toward the diesel train up front.  
  
The next car was some fancy dining car that looked like some five star restaurant. The Black Hole guys sure didn't have bad taste, that's for sure. I took a moment to duck under a table and take a look at my skin. Holy hell... Are the Black Hole guys not resistant to extreme cold? Cause I felt like someone had taken a blow torch to my skin. Lash said I was like their guys, only... myself as well... Eventually my skin was back to normal, but still hurt like hell.  
  
I stood up and continued on through some supply cars with guns sticking out the side. There wasn't anyone right there at the moment and when I neared the middle car, the whole train lurched to a stop. My face slammed into the door with a thud and I instantly fell down holding my face in pain.  
  
"Dammit!" I cursed as quietly as I could.  
  
When I got back up, I could see through a window that the train had come to a stop. I had to hide soon, cause this whole train was going to be flooded with Black Hole soldiers. I ran forward through I don't know how many passenger cars looking for a place to hide. Eventually I reached a communications room of some sort and located a locker that was jarred open when the train came to it's sudden stop. I climbed in and shut it as a bunch of soldiers began to run by.  
  
I held my breath. I didn't want to breathe when they went by for fear they would hear me and inspect the locker. When I went to look what was in the locker I found guns, lots of them. With my cramped hiding space I managed to slide a handgun into my palms and was relieved it was loaded. Black Hole surely was the type to shoot first and never ask questions later.  
  
Watching from my secret spot, a bunch more soldiers walked through, and then Lash entered carrying a briefcase and swinging around like it was a mace of some sort. She managed to conk the two soldiers tailing her and soon set it down on a table.  
  
"That Sami is so annoying! I can't have fun when she's around!" Lash declared. "All this trouble to plan this big strike and she manages to break into my HQ."  
  
"Yes, mistress Lash." One soldier commented.  
  
"Well, at least I get the last laugh with my dummy. Tee hee hee!" She laughed. "Ok, now get this train moving! We're heading toward Blue Moon now! We can leave Flak to clean up Orange Star."  
  
"Of course."  
  
With that one of the guards left as the other took a corner and readied his weapon. I stood there eyeing her angrily. My hand tightening on the pistol. I would have fired if I didn't get out of the locker and get her soon. Finally the soldier guarding her went over to a window, and I saw my perfect opportunity. I threw open the locker and rushed over to him and then threw him out the window. He hit the ground with a thud and soon the train began to move. He stood back up and began to try and get back on the train, but he wasn't fast enough.  
  
Now I turned toward Lash, who had her back to me and raised my gun. Click. I pulled the hammer back.  
  
"Hello Lash." I greeted her.  
  
She paused for a second, set down everything she was doing and spun around with a happy expression. I couldn't believe her... She was crazy. But her happy face caught me off guard and I forgot about pulling the trigger.  
  
"Tee hee hee! It's my pet project! You've come home!"  
  
"Shut up!" I barked at her. "You're going to pay Lash. For it all, everything."  
  
"Tee hee hee! You're perfect now!" She stated even more excited than before.  
  
"Huh?" I began to lose my grip on the trigger. "What are you talking about?"  
  
"We've totally changed you! We were initially concerned when you still retained your original memory during the transformation. But you're better now!"  
  
"You better start making sense, or playtime is over!" I gestured toward my gun.  
  
"Of course." She smiled at me. "You used to be James Heckler, some Orange Star soldier. You never knew what it was like to be driven by revenge and hatred. But you do now!"  
  
My throat tightened as I began to understand why she as so excited.  
  
"No no! I'm still James Heckler, I'm just..."  
  
"No you aren't!" She laughed. "You think you've come this far because you want justice? Not a chance! It's all about getting even with the world! Isn't that right? My pet!"  
  
"So what! So what? You certainly wont be enjoying any future position in the Black Hole Army!"  
  
"You're so silly! Put the gun down! That's an order!" She giggled at me.  
  
"No." I growled at her.  
  
She vaguely lost her smile but still had a smirk on her face. I watched as she jumped up to sit on the metal counter behind her. She kicked her legs and got comfortable, like I would have her at gunpoint for a long time.  
  
"Ok, I'll just sit here and wait." She smiled.  
  
"Wait for what?"  
  
"For you to stop acting silly and put the gun down."  
  
"Hey!" I roared at her. "I'm going to kill you!"  
  
"Please!" She scoffed at me. "If you were going to kill me, you would have done it by now!"  
  
"No, you're wrong. I wanted to have some quality time before I took you out!"  
  
"What? Make me get on my knees? Grovel at your feet or somethin'? No way! I'm wayyyy to smart to do that!"  
  
"Why you little..."  
  
I began to commit to my idea of taking her out. But before I could pull the trigger, I heard someone enter and cock a weapon. What should I do? Was it worth thinking I was faster than the person behind me? What was I doing anyway? Lash hadn't once stopped smiling since I entered. Maybe she was right... Maybe I wasn't going to kill her... I just didn't know anymore.  
  
"Tee hee hee! You are silly! Put the gun down!" Lash ordered.  
  
But I didn't.  
  
"No. I'm just going to stand here and when I hear a shot, I'm going to shoot. So maybe I will pull the trigger. Maybe you're soldier behind me will make me to do it for me."  
  
"Hm... You think you're so smart! But you're out of luck! Cause the soldier behind you isn't even Black Hole!"  
  
That's when I spun around to see a Black Hole soldier standing there. Damn, I can't believe I fell for it. I kept turning and whipped my head back to Lash to see her still sitting on the counter. Hey... What was going on? I heard the clicking of the helmet rising off the soldier behind me and I looked to see Rick's face.  
  
"Rick? What the hell are you doing here?" I gasped.  
  
"Heckler..." He said breathlessly. "That's you? That's what they did to you?"  
  
I had forgotten.... I lost my helmet when I was fighting Flak. He could see me now, he could see it all. The blue shiny skin. The beady red eyes. Even the snout that had begun to form on my face. Gone was my nose and mouth. It was just a snout now... Everything else looked about the same on me. My blond hair was getting darker by the minute, soon it'd be black or something.  
  
"Tee hee hee!" Lash laughed out loud. "Now it's time for the final stage of the experiment!"  
  
Rick and I didn't even look to her as she got down from the counter and moved over to a laptop.  
  
"Hey, Mr. Orange Star in disguise! Why don't you call in the rest of your team?" Lash suggested.  
  
"You know we're here?" He asked snapping back into reality.  
  
"Of course I do! I'm a genius! I LET you on Adder's train! So I can complete my experiment! For all of you to see what a freaky monster your friend has become! Tee hee hee!"  
  
I turned toward Lash as she began to type away on the laptop. She knew they snuck on the train? Probably thought a unit would be after her when the dummy plan went into action. I delayed her. But she wanted me to delay her. So... Oh man! Back when I was fighting Flak, she DID see me on the ground... From there, she orchestrated the whole event... And it comes down to this...  
  
Three soldiers entered the car from where Rick was and took off their helmets. Ruby, Victor, and Palmer. What was Lash planning anyway? She looked up and gave a laugh.  
  
"Ta da! Here you go everyone! The man of the hour! James who-used-to-be Heckler!" She announced.  
  
I could hear a chorus of helmets dropping to the ground as they all stared at me. They looked horrible. Nell could take it easy I guessed, being the Supreme Commander and everything. But my own guys... What would they think... Lash looked at us all with an excited expression.  
  
"Tee hee hee! Now it's all set! What do you think of my makeover?" Lash asked. "How I do love input for my beautiful creations!"  
  
"You're a monster..." Ruby uttered.  
  
Man... I though that was going to happen. They were going to see me... And then I could never be the same. Never. Now I was forced to side with Lash and Black Hole. They were the only ones who would take me in now. I was so angry. At everyone... This sucked. I couldn't think of a better term for it. It sucked.  
  
"Ha ha! See? Now what are you going to do Heckler? You going to go back to your friends that hate you?" Lash asked giddily.  
  
She was so excited that her plan was going perfectly... So perfectly... She could barely contain herself. Me? I was just so blown away that I couldn't say anything. I had to reassume my grip on the gun because the sweat pouring off of my palms was making it slippery in my grip  
  
"I don't think you heard me Lash!" Ruby declared suddenly. "I said, you're a monster!"  
  
"Huh? You mean... you were talking about her?" I asked slowly realizing my error.  
  
"Hey! You're supposed to hate Heckler! Not me! Look at him? Are you going to have a freak in your military?" Lash asked in a childlike anger.  
  
"Better a freak than someone like you!" Rick yelled out.  
  
"Uh oh..." Lash realized her plan just got messed up.  
  
For a moment she lost her smile and backed away, but after she jarred a gallery of chemicals she resumed her smile even as everyone on my team cocked their weapons and pointed it at her.  
  
"Tee hee hee! I understand! I lost! That's so not fair Heckler! I underestimated how valuable you were to your teammates!"  
  
"You lost? Is that all you can say?" Rick declared. "I'd say it' game over for you Lash! You see we're here to take you in!"  
  
"Oh no. You won't do that! Cause I got the antidote to your friends predicament there." Lash declared bravely. "Tee hee hee!"  
  
"No way! You can't be serious!" I shuttered.  
  
"Oh I'm about as serious as Adder is! Tee hee hee! You let me go so Heckler can become all normal!"  
  
I looked to Ruby, rather pitifully. I didn't want Lash to get away... But me, becoming normal again! That was a victory in itself. She seemed to be thinking the same exact thing and moved forward aiming her gun directly as Lash's head.  
  
"How bout we capture you? And then force you to help Heckler anyway?"  
  
"Phhhhh!" She stuck her tongue out at us. "That's not the same! I'll clam up and never talk!"  
  
"We have ways of dealing with people who don't talk!" Ruby advised her.  
  
"Sure you do!" Lash laughed. "I'm like, soooo scared!"  
  
During their talk, I was moving closer to her. She had the answer to my problem, and I wanted it. She noticed this and likewise began to back away.  
  
"Tee hee hee! Hey Heckler! You want to play a game? If you catch me, I might just return you to normal! But if I get away, I'll destroy all my research on transformation!"  
  
I didn't say anything back, I simply glared at her while moving closer. She was going for the trains exit.  
  
"Okay! The game is on! Catch me if you can! Tee hee hee!"  
  
And with that she pressed a switch on the wall and the floor underneath us went flying upwards. The roof opened up and now we were on the top of the train while it moved. I was caught off guard and fell down as Lash took off. I stood back up and without a second thought, went after her.  
  
-To be continued  
  
-Concluded in Chapter 6: Running Man 


	6. Chapter 6: Running Man

-Advance Wars 2  
  
--Lash Factor  
  
---Chapter 6: Running Man  
  
I was leaping over the break in the train cars and could vaguely hear my team running after us going from train car to train car. Then I heard gunshots, they were after all, still trespassing on a Black Hole military train. So it was up to me. Lash was just as nimble as I thought she was being so small and energetic. She leapt from train car to train car with no trouble.  
  
"Lash! Get back here!" I yelled. "Give me the antidote!"  
  
She paused since she was two cars ahead of me and looked back. She removed a large greenish looking vial from her jacket and held it up laughing.  
  
"You mean this? Tee hee hee! I love games! C'mon! Let's play!"  
  
I rushed after her like I was on fire, and she was holding a bucket of water. I wanted that vial, at all costs. The train shuttered and caused me to nearly fall down as Lash slipped and landed on her behind. This was it! I could make up my distance on her. I took off as she was standing back up and was heading right for her. That's when bullets began to come through the roof and nearly hit me.  
  
"There might be some obstacles Heckler! This is a game after all!"  
  
Needless to say, I kept running and I could spy Black Hole soldiers running after me. This train was long, and soon we came across a flat bed and jumped down onto it. Lash was climbing up some crates when I fired off a round from my gun. She paused and looked back with a glare.  
  
"Hey! No cheating!" She yelled at me.  
  
I would have fired again but the train jerked and in my slippery palms, the gun went flying off the side. There wasn't anything I could do now, but chase after her like I was a mad man. I was going to get her, I had to. There was no other way! We scrambled back up onto a normal train car and began our race again.  
  
I could see the countryside buzzing past me. Beaches were turning into trees and lakes. We were getting further away from the Western Coast and I remembered we were heading toward Blue Moon. Suddenly she stopped and seemed to be fooling with something. I began to double my speed and rushed after her. That's when she turned around and spilled some oil all over the train car roof.  
  
She laughed as I slipped and went off the side. In desperation I gripped onto the edge of the train and slammed into a window. I looked in to see a bunch of soldiers pointing weapons at me. I either let go, or get shot. Well, I didn't know what to do and I simply stared at them. Suddenly they went down and I could see Rick rush past and give a wave to me. I managed to get back up and dropped my mouth open when I saw how far away lash had gotten.  
  
I took off again leaping from car to car, hoping she wouldn't get away and double back through the train cars or something. Now the scenery was changing we were heading through a Black Hole encampment. I could spot the notorious looking tanks and recon vehicles. The train suddenly curved and nearly threw me off. That's when I realized we had just switched tracks. We were heading back toward the Western Coast.  
  
With that in mind, I began to wonder what was going on. Then I remembered Flak was going to be showing up at Western Coast, and chances are our guys pulled out already. We were going to get caught at the center of the storm if we didn't hurry it up. I could finally see Lash standing at the head of the train and smiling at me as I leapt onto the diesel train.  
  
"Tee hee hee! You lost Heckler! I beat you!" She declared.  
  
"I don't think so. Give me that antidote! Now!"  
  
She pointed upwards and I could finally recognize a transport copter flying over us. A rope ladder fell down and she grabbed a hold of it. I ran toward her but the copter had already begun to pull her off the train. I was screaming inside, there was no way she was going to get away and with that, I puffed out a large cloud out of my snout. It soon went right over Lash and she almost turned green.  
  
Almost instantly she let go of the ladder and fell back down onto the train and shook her head uneasily. What was that I just shot at her? Some kind of knock out gas? Whatever it did it knocked her flat and I grabbed her by the neck.  
  
"Where is it Lash? Where is it? I want it now!"  
  
"Ewww! You sneezed that pink crap all over me!" She whined.  
  
"Give it to me!" I yelled.  
  
"You aren't supposed to catch me! I already won!" Lash argued.  
  
"Forget you!"  
  
I put her down on the roof of the train and began to search her pockets. Suddenly I grabbed onto something in her right inside pocket and felt electricity surge through my body. Lash let out a laugh as I fell to the train roof and stood up.  
  
"Tee hee hee! That's my anti-pick pocket device! Nice of you to try it!"  
  
"Dammit!" I moaned while I flopped around on the train roof.  
  
Lash went back to the rope ladder and grabbed on. This time the copter didn't take off and simply let her climb to the top. I slowly sat back up and felt my head. She was halfway up when I managed to stand and soon I grabbed the ladder and began to shake it. Just as I'd hoped, Lash lost her grip and fell down a couple rungs. Then I began to climb and she looked down at me angrily.  
  
"Give up Heckler! You lost! I'm leaving!" Lash declared.  
  
"Not until you give me the antidote! I'll never leave you alone!"  
  
"Phhhhh! Fat chance!" She began to kick at my hands when I got close.  
  
Surprisingly enough, those boots hurt when it connected with my palms.  
  
"Go away! I'm bored with you!" She continued to tell me.  
  
Finally I managed to grab one of her legs and held on as the copter began to sway away from the train. I hoped to anyone that she would lose her grip before I would and I could hang her over the train until she gave me what I wanted. But that suit I wore... it was heavy... She managed to squirm away from me and began to climb into the copter. But she slipped and I latched onto her leg one last time. With that, I closed my eyes and jumped of the ladder.  
  
I brought her back down now that I was pulling at her with gravity and the weight of my entire body. We crashed back onto the train roof and the copter must have given up and took off. Lash was KO'd thank god, and I began to search her, careful of her electric defense system. I felt the large vial and yanked it out.  
  
"Oh man... It's about damned time." I moaned and downed it without taking a second thought.  
  
It seemed to me that the train began to slow, but it wasn't, it was just my eyes getting blurry and me losing track of me environment. Pretty soon, I'd be unconscious too. I just hoped everyone else on my team was doing ok... Or all my hard work would be worth nothing. Whew, that was about the first time I went to sleep since I left Black Hole. I was ready for it too.  
  
I sat up slowly and looked around like I had a hangover. Man, it's one of those clean white rooms. A frickin' hospital. I'm tired of rooms that give me the feeling someone is going to stick me with a needle. I had a enough of that from Lash. Once I got my bearings, I suddenly felt the need to cover up my face. An Orange Star nurse walked by and didn't look at me. On the table was a round dish and I picked it up to hold in in front of my face.  
  
But I noticed something. I was normal. I looked like I did before I met Lash, maybe not as healthy looking, but there wasn't any snout and my skin was normal and there wasn't any red eyes staring back at me. I was... normal. Lash was serious when she said she had an antidote... While I was thinking about my change back, I could hear someone step through the door and lowered my dish to see Rick standing there, in uniform and with his gun at his side.  
  
"Rick! Lash was telling the truth! Look at me!"  
  
"Yeah Heckler, you're now the pretty boy we once knew you as." He seemed to be back to normal. "But man, you were ugly when you were changing back. You're skin was all slushy and man... We thought you were going to die or something. That snout you had just dropped right off. I had to leave you to go throw up." He paused. "That's not cool man, never get caught again."  
  
We both laughed at it. It seemed like everything was back to normal. But still, I could tell there was something that he wasn't telling me and I looked at him hard.  
  
"How long was I out?"  
  
"Out? Damn near a week. That's why we thought you were dying or something." He told me.  
  
I was confused, mostly because I felt like I had only been down for a couple of hours. He seemed to sense this and scratched the back of his head before continuing.  
  
"We took control of the train and managed to take it back to Orange Star territory. There really isn't much on it. We still stole it though. Our guys have been picking it apart for about forever."  
  
"And Lash? What did she say?"  
  
"Oh yeah..." He stuttered. "That Lash was another dummy..."  
  
"What? No way..."  
  
But the more I thought about it, the more it made sense. She didn't do anything, she was out cold. It looked plenty like her, but there wasn't anything but bolts and gears inside. But why did she put the vial in her dummy's jacket? That didn't make sense. But I knew the moment I lost sight of her foot she slid the dummy's foot back out and I grabbed it thinking it was her. No wonder we went back onto the train car so fast.  
  
"Are you sure I'm ok? I found the vial in the dummy's jacket." I began to panic. "Maybe it some virus she gave me! I might die any minute..."  
  
Rick slapped me and I looked to him angrily.  
  
"For gods sake Heckler, shut up. You're back to normal, I think you could at least be grateful for that. And besides, what do you think this is? A hospital or a tent on the field? We got complex equipment to know these things."  
  
I laughed for some reason. I guess he was right. But why... Why did Lash give in and give me the antidote...  
  
"Hey Heckler, Lash is one looney broad. You can't reason with a crazy person. Besides, she probably coughed the vial up when you played with her." Rick suggested.  
  
"Hey, you're probably right."  
  
"No..." He raised his finger. "I am right. Don't you forget it."  
  
"You cocky bastard."  
  
We both laughed and soon Ruby and the rest of them entered.  
  
"Hey Heckler, thank god you're normal again."  
  
Victor nodded solemnly and Palmer nodded at the same time.  
  
"Heckler, you know Sami was the commander for the Western Coast battle." Ruby began. "I heard Nell give a direct order to capture Lash so we could help you. Even though finding you again was a pretty slim chance in itself."  
  
I thought about that. Ha! Wait till I brag about this to the other guys. Nell gave a direct order for my benefit. Now that's pretty damn cool. But I knew she was just exaggerating... At least I thought I was... Until Nell stepped through the door and gave a smile at me. Holy hell, she wasn't kidding.  
  
My whole team saluted as she walked in.  
  
"How are you feeling soldier?" Nell asked.  
  
"Um... Just fine ma'am. A little tired... But just fine."  
  
"Good. We plan to give you some leave time after this whole ordeal. I admire a willful spirit like yourself."  
  
"Um... Excuse me ma'am?" I didn't quite know what she meant.  
  
"I said I enjoy someone who doesn't give up, no matter how hard things are going for them."  
  
"Oh... Well... I'm sorry for running out on you like that... It was pretty stupid..."  
  
"We can't expect you to be accountable for your own actions after being under the influence of enemy toxins." She smiled and then gave me a nod. "Good day, enjoy your leave time."  
  
With that she left and my team began to look at me.  
  
"Hell, next time I'm getting caught so I can get some leave time." Rick mumbled.  
  
"Shut up." Ruby and Palmer said at the same time.  
  
I just smiled and leaned back in my bed. It's been awhile since I've been home. Hell, no one in my town will ever believe me... But maybe, just maybe they will. They began to leave and I quickly stopped them.  
  
"Hey, what is your guys next operation?"  
  
"Man, we forgot to tell him!" Rick slapped his head. "We liberated Orange Star a couple days ago. Beat Flak senseless and then made him turn tail. We're being deployed to help out Blue Moon."  
  
I nodded at them and then closed my eyes for a bit before opening them.  
  
"Watch your backs and take Black Hole down for me!"  
  
"Will do!"  
  
With that they left, and now I could get some sleep. Finally... Some... sleep...  
  
-End Chapter  
  
-The End. 


End file.
